Getting an offer to have your writing published – whether a whole book or a single short story or article – is an exciting time. However, it's important not to get carried away in the excitement and end up signing away more than you thought you bargained for. While most established publishers have a standard form contract, that doesn't mean the terms aren't negotiable – just because every other author signs it "as is" doesn't mean you have to do the same. To protect the rights to your writing during publication, register your copyright beforehand and read the agreement carefully to appropriately limit the license and ensure you're getting adequate payment.

Steps

Part 1

Registering Your Copyright

1

Fill out your application for registration. You can get an application from the U.S. Copyright Office's website, or fill it out using the online form. Registering online not only allows you to pay a lower registration fee but also check the status of your application at any time.[1][2][3]

Your work is protected by copyright from the moment you write it. However, registering your copyright gives you the ability to sue for infringement in federal court and provides a record of your ownership.

If your copyright is already registered in your name, you lessen the chances that a publisher would attempt to take all of your rights to your work.

The registration application requires information regarding you as the author of the work, the title of the work and type of work it is, and the date it was created or published.

For your protection, use the date of creation on your registration application rather than the date of publication. This establishes that your copyright ownership predated the publication.

2

Pay your registration fees. The amount of registration fees you'll have to pay when you submit your application will vary depending on the number of works you're registering and how you're filing your application.[4]

Generally, registration for a single work is only $35 if you submit your application online. If you send a paper application through the mail, you'll have to pay $85 plus postage costs – which could be hefty if you're also sending copies of a book-length manuscript.

3

Submit deposit copies of your writing. For your registration to be complete, you must provide copies of your work for deposit at the U.S. Copyright Office and the Library of Congress. You may be able to attach electronic copies if you're completing your application online.[5][6]

If you want to attach electronic copies of your work for deposit, check the Copyright Office's list and make sure the file you attach is in an accepted file type.

The deposit requirements differ for published and unpublished works. If your work hasn't been published yet, you may follow the rules for unpublished works, even if you know it will be published.

For unpublished works, you are only required to send one copy. However, for published works you must send two copies.

Your publisher should comply with the deposit requirements once the book is published – make sure this is included in your publishing agreement.

4

Receive your copyright registration certificate. Once your registration application is processed, the Copyright Office will send your official certificate to you in the mail. Processing time varies, so you may not receive your official certificate until several months after you applied.[7][8]

If you apply online, you'll get an email confirming receipt of your application. From there on out you can check the status of your application at any time.

Keep in mind the Copyright Office only sends registration certificates through regular U.S. mail. You won't be able to use a private mail service or have a tracking option.

Part 2

Limiting the License

1

Do some background research on the publisher. You must have a basic understanding of the kind of work the publisher does and where it distributes books if you want to make sure its license to publish your work is limited effectively.[9][10]

You can find out information about the types of work the publisher does online. Start by looking on the publisher's website.

If you're signing a book contract, find out where the publisher distributes the books it sells and in what formats.

For article or short story sales to journals and periodicals, check the publication's circulation, as well as whether it publishes anthologies or other collections of past work.

2

Refuse to grant rights the publisher won't use. Protecting the rights to your writing includes not allowing the publisher to claim rights through your publishing agreement that the publisher does not have the means or inclination to exploit.[11][12]

Keep in mind that any publication of your work constitutes a transfer of use rights. Although this generally doesn't affect your ownership of the copyright, you are licensing the publisher to copy and distribute your work.

Publishers commonly include a description of the rights you give them through the agreement, but these descriptions don't always match up to what the publisher actually can do, or plans to do, with your work.

For example, if the publishing agreement states that you're granting the publisher "first global rights," this means you're granting the publisher the right to publish your work first throughout the world.

However, if the publisher only has the means to publish and distribute your work in North America, they don't need global rights – they only need North American rights. Limiting their rights accordingly gives you the ability to negotiate publication in other countries later on.

You also want to make sure the term is reasonable and doesn't grant the publisher the right to publish the book in perpetuity. Have the rights revert to you after a set period of time, or after the book has gone out of print.

3

Pay attention to subsidiary rights. Make sure any and all limitations on rights set forth in your publishing agreement will also pass through to subsidiaries such as paperback or audio book publishers that your primary publisher uses.[13]

For example, if you've granted the publisher first North American rights, but they only publish in hardcover and use a subsidiary for paperback publishing, you must check to make sure that the agreement doesn't grant first global rights for the paperback.

Check the term allowances for subsidiary agreements as well. If you've already set a term when rights revert to you, that same term should apply to subsidiaries.

4

Keep tangential rights to yourself. Your publishing agreement shouldn't give the publisher the right to do anything other than print, market, and distribute your book. Film or television rights to your story can be very valuable depending on your book sales.[14][15]

Certain rights, such as large-print or book-club rights, typically are standard in book publishing agreements, and allow the publisher to create different versions of your book for those markets.

However, there's no reason to grant the publisher rights for other media. With book publishing, you also must be careful about audio book rights.

Many standard publishing agreements grant the publisher audio book rights as a matter of course, but if the publisher decides not to make an audio book, you won't have the right to contract with anyone else to make one.

Keep in mind that your agent should be the one to negotiate any television or movie deals that result from the publishing of your book. There's no reason the publisher needs to be involved, nor should they get any money from it.

5

Reserve all rights not granted. The publishing agreement should include a clause that any rights not explicitly given to the publisher are retained by you, the author. This clause keeps the publisher from later claiming that the agreement implies additional rights you never intended to grant.[16][17]

When you reserve all rights not specifically granted in the agreement, you limit the agreement to its terms.

Particularly if you've negotiated effectively to limit the publisher's license, there's no reason to throw that all away by not including this statement.

Part 3

Understanding Royalties

1

Get a nonrefundable advance. If you're receiving all or part of your advance before you've completed your manuscript, make sure you don't have to give that money back if the publisher later decides your finished product is unsatisfactory.[18][19]

If the publisher refuses to agree to a completely nonrefundable advance, negotiate to ensure the refundable portion is as small as possible.

You also can negotiate to structure the advance in stages so that you get a portion of the total advance after the completion and approval of sections of the manuscript.

Similarly, if you're having an article or story published in a periodical or literary magazine, negotiate a kill fee – the amount you'll be paid if the publication rejects your work after you've completed it or otherwise decides not to include it in a published issue.

Keep in mind that if you're given an advance, it is precisely that – an advance on royalties you are likely to receive from the sale of your book. This money should be yours to keep.

There should be no provision that if you don't sell enough copies to recoup the advance, you have to pay that money back.

2

Evaluate your royalty rate. You must understand not only your base royalty rate, but also the circumstances under which you're entitled to a lower rate under the agreement. Generally, you want to negotiate away most rate decreases.[20][21]

Pay close attention to what happens to your royalty if the publisher sells copies of your book to wholesale clubs such as Costco or Sam's Club. Often these companies offer your book at a substantially reduced price, and the publisher will seek to have this reduction come out of your royalties rather than decreasing its own profits.

Negotiate for more specific language in any clause that deals with rate reductions to protect you and your rights in your writing from being unfairly exploited.

Research industry standards or speak with an attorney who has experience with publishing contracts if you're uncomfortable with rate reductions under various circumstances.

3

Preserve your auditing rights. The amount of royalties you receive is based on the sales of your book, so you must be able to review your publisher's accounts on a regular basis and confirm that you're being paid the full amount to which you're entitled.[22]

You should have the explicit right to audit the publisher's records at any time with notice. You also may want to negotiate the right to audit without notice, although typically this ability would be limited to once or twice a year.

If you're negotiating a book deal, negotiate a provision that the publisher cannot have the book go out of print and retain any rights. Similarly, you might want to include a clause that states all rights revert to you if no copies of the book are sold for a specific period of time, such as two years.

The publisher should be sending you accounting statements each month or each quarter, regardless of whether you are entitled to any royalty payments. You need to keep close tabs on the accounting, particularly in the early stages after your book's release when your advance is still potentially in recoupment.

4

Require the publisher to get and pay for permissions. Depending on the type of book you've written, getting permission from other copyright and trademark owners to quote their work can be pricy. The publisher should pay for these permissions where necessary – it shouldn't come out of your royalties.[23][24]

You also should insure that you won't be on the hook for libel, or for copyright or trademark infringement, of any of your content. Negotiate with the publishing company to have your work covered under its liability policy.

Typically your publisher will be more diligent about seeking out permissions if it knows it will be liable for any lawsuits.

5

Scrutinize payment of other expenses. The publisher technically is getting the lion's share of the profits your book will make, so the publisher should foot the bill for marketing and promotion expenses.[25]

If these sorts of expenses are being taken out of your royalties, you're not adequately protecting your rights because you're allowing the publisher to make money off of its exploitation of those rights without much investment.

Your publishing agreement, or an addendum to it, should describe the advertising and marketing budget specifically, as well as what efforts will be made to promote your book.

Be especially careful of publicity tours or book signings. Make sure you have sufficient advance notice and understand what costs will be covered by the publisher and what will have to come out of your own pocket so you can plan accordingly.